Alfred minnick



, UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALFRED MINNIOK, OF FALLS CITY, NEBRASKA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO HENRY 0. SMITH, OF SAME PLACE.

SELF-TALLYING POOL-RACK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 358,782, dated March 1, 1887.

Application filed September 25,1885. Serial No. 178,178. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALFRED MINNIOK. a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Falls City, in the county of Richardson and State of Nebraska, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Fifteen-Ball-Pool Racks, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to pool-racks which have a counting device and an alarm connected therewith.

The object of my invention is to construct a pool-rack so that the number of games played will be registered and an alarm sounded; and to this end my invention consist-s of constructions and combinations, all as will be hereinafter described in the body of the specification, and particularly pointed out in the claims, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a front elevation of my device, and Fig. 2 a modification showing the pawl attached directly to the shelves.

A represents the main or outside frame of the rack.

' B are slanting shelves to support the balls, and are loose or separate from the main or outside frame, and run in grooves 11 in said frame.

0 is a spring attached to the rack A and to the top of the shelves B, which keeps the shelves when empty in an elevated position.

D is a disk, numbered on its face and provided with notches d on its outer edge.

E is a pawl attached to the side of the frame near the top, the upper end engaging with the notches d on the disk D and the lower end connecting with a rod, 6, near the top of the frame, said rod being supported by another rod, 0, screwed to top of frame, the otherend of which is connected by pivotscrews to the top of shelves B.

On the opposite side of the disk D in which the pawl E engages I place another pawl, F, which also engages in the notches d, to prevent the disk from slipping backward after registering. Attached to the lower part of the frame is a spring-pawl, G, which works in a rack, g, attached to the side of the shelves B, for the purpose of preventing the shelves from rising when balls are taken out. H is a wire, attached at h to the pawl E, which runs over the top of the frames, and may be attached to a bell located in any part 'of the room, so that when the pawl moves to operate the counting-disk the bell is rung.

The upper part of the frame is inclosed ex cept an aperture through which the number registered is seen.

The pawl E may be attached directly to the shelves, if desired.

The operation of my device is as follows: The rack being in posit-ion, as soon as the number of balls are placed in the rack which the rack is adjusted to count under, the 1nov able shelves will descend and operate the counting device, turning the disk one point I and ringing the bell.

Having fully described my invention. what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, 1s-

1. In a pool-rack, the combination, with the vertically-movable spring-supported shelves, of a counting mechanism, and means carried by said movable shelves for operating the counting mechanism, whereby said section is moved against the tension of thesupportingspring and the counting mechanism is operated by the weight of the balls placed on the shelves.

2. The combination, in a pool-racl of the .vertically-movable shelves and spring supporting said shelves, with a counting mechanism, and a pawl on said movable shelves adapted to engage with and operate said counting mechanism, substantially as described, and for the purpose set forth.

3. The combination, with the rack A, of the vertically-movable shelves B, having rack 9, spring 0, a counting device, and means secured to the movable shelves for operating the counting device, and the spring-pawl G, substantially as shown and described.

4. The combination, with the rack A, of the vertically-movable shelves 13, having rack spring 0, notched disk D, pawls E F, springpawl G, and the wire H, substantially as described, and for the purpose set forth.

ALFRED MINNICK.

Witnesses:

E. l). SToUGHToN, J. B. COUPE. 

